Water rates will rise in Carlsbad

The City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday to raise the average residential water bill by about $6.14 a month, and the sewer bills by $2.10. Councilwoman Ann Kulchin was absent.

Water rates have increased across the region as the wholesaler Metropolitan Water District, which provides San Diego County with most of its water, has raised rates.

City officials could also have voted to increase trash rates, but declined to vote on the proposed hike, which according to the city staff report would have given the city’s waste hauler an industry standard profit margin.

Under the water rate increase, the base rate customers pay for having a water meter will increase 7.2 percent, but the variable rate — the rate people pay for how much water they use — increases 18 percent. The more water they use, the more they will pay. City officials could have approved an 18 percent increase across the board, but opted against it.